


soul meets soul on lovers' lips

by brightestorangedawn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: "I hate sand" redemption fic, Also Padme's family really love Anakin which I am totally here for, Anakin also doesn't know how to eat soup properly, And it's all really nice and sweet hooray, AotC rewrite (sort of), F/M, Fluff, Padme and Anakin fall in love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29399166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightestorangedawn/pseuds/brightestorangedawn
Summary: After being reunited with Anakin it surprises Padmé  how quickly and how easily she falls completely and utterly in love with him.Not quite an AOTC rewrite, more of an “expansion” of Anakin and Padmé’s love story during the events of that film.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	soul meets soul on lovers' lips

**Author's Note:**

> The plot of my main work, "A Changing Fate", is getting increasingly grimmer, and things aren’t going so well in Real Life either, so I wanted to write something more upbeat and pretty much pure fluff. It’s like comfort food! :)
> 
> The title is a well-known quote from "Prometheus Unbound" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. No, I haven’t read it, I just liked the quote haha.

  
  


_ **Soul Meets Soul on Lovers’ Lips** _

  
  


**by BrightestOrangeDawn**

  
  


**I**

  
  


Padmé could not believe how different he was.

Of course, she had seen some reports here and there as to his exploits with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but it had been ten years since she’d actually seen him in person.

He was so _tall!_ And (she noticed this with a flush of heat to her cheeks) he was handsome.

Very handsome.

She expressed her surprise, telling him how much he had changed since she had last seen him.

He said something to her that she did not quite register – she was too busy studying his face, the new leanness of it, the intensity of the blue eyes. There was no resemblance to the boy she had known. He had transformed completely into this new, dashing young man.

She was brought to attention by the end of what he had been saying.

“You’ve grown more beautiful.” His words and his gaze upon her were both unsure of themselves. “Uh.. for a senator, I mean.”

She smiled. The heat had not left her cheeks. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “Oh Ani, you’ll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine.”

It was a meant as an assurance to him that she remembered their time together and looked back on it fondly. However, he seemed annoyed at her words.

Padmé turned away quickly. She realised she was disappointed at his reaction, and wondered what kind of response she had been hoping for from him. Her emotions were alien to her and she felt uncomfortable that all of a sudden she should not know herself.

She tried not to look at Anakin again for the rest of the meeting. She wanted to be alone, to work out how she felt, and why she felt that way.

  
  


**II**

  
  


They were in her bedroom. They were alone.

The knowledge of that brought the heat from before rushing back to her cheeks.

Never before in her entire life had she ever been alone in her bedroom with a man. Especially not one as handsome as...

Padmé frowned at herself. She was not some giddy school-girl. It was just Anakin, after all. Just Anakin, who was tall, and lean, and who looked really good in those dark Jedi robes and...

Padmé was sitting on her bed, watching him as he carefully inspected the security camera, mounted discreetly on the wall in the corner of the room by the window. She remembered that he had been very good with mechanics when he’d been a slave on Tatooine. Some things were still the same about him, then.

He turned to her with a smile. “Camera looks like it’s working fine.”

She simply nodded, turning away from his smile.

Anakin took a few shy steps toward her. “Is everything alright?”

“I don’t like the camera in here. It makes me feel strange.”

“It’s to keep you safe, milady.”

Padmé sighed. “I know. I just… I don’t want everyone to be watching me all the time. My bedroom is the only place I ever get any privacy and now that’s gone too.”

Anakin took another step towards her. He hesitated before offering a response. “I could disable the camera.”

“What?”

“Nobody needs to know,” he assured her. “That way you can keep your privacy.”

Padmé thought about this for a moment. “How will you know if something is happening to me?”

“You can program your R2 unit to alert us of any intruders,” Anakin began.

Padmé nodded.

“And, well, I can sense what is going on in the room, too. I’d know if you were in any danger.”

Padmé looked at him curiously. If he could sense what was happening in the room, could he sense how she was feeling now? She almost blushed at the thought.

Anakin misinterpreted her silence for a lack of faith in his abilities. “Trust me, milady, I really _would_ know instantly if anything was threatening you. My senses are just as good as Obi-Wan’s. In fact I-”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Padmé cut him off.

His face, which had been full of annoyance, instantly lightened at the words. He went about deactivating the camera feed without another comment.

Padmé continued to sit on the bed, watching him. She was thankful for his understanding of her need for privacy – being surrounded all day, every day by other beings took its toll on her.

Anakin finished his work quickly. He approached her again – still very cautiously, she noticed. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Padmé . I promise.”

She smiled at him. Despite the danger that faced her, right now she felt at ease.

  
  


**III**

  
  


For once her sleep had been peaceful. She had been dreaming – nothing concrete, just a collection of images. Swimming at the Lake Country as a child. The painting Paolo did for her for her sixteenth birthday. That time Rush Clovis had kissed her when they were both new to the senate.

And then suddenly she was waking with the terrible knowledge that something was very wrong. Looking down she saw two strange insect-like creatures scuttling over her bed towards her. She opened her mouth to scream but before any sound came out, the door to her bedroom was opening and there was Anakin. He leapt onto the bed to shield her, his lightsaber ignited in his hand. Its shining blue blade sliced through the creatures before they could do any harm.

Obi-Wan was there too. He dived heroically through the bedroom window in pursuit of the assassin that had released the awful creatures into her room.

Padmé recoiled at the sound of the transparisteel breaking. Her eyes flew around the room, instinctively seeking out any further danger, before coming to rest on Anakin. He was still above her on the bed, his body so close to hers. Her heart started to race even faster.

For a second their gazes met and they paused, just taking each other in. There was such intensity in those blue eyes. Padmé ’s lips parted unconsciously. She sucked in a breath.

Anakin looked away. He too took a deep breath. “Are you alright?”

Padmé nodded. “Go help Obi-Wan. I want you to catch this assassin and end all of this now.”

Awkwardly, Anakin moved off of the bed and ran to the door. He paused before leaving and turned back to her. “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I’ll always keep that promise.”

And then he was gone, and Padmé stared at the empty space where he had been. She rubbed her eyes, ran a hand through her hair, brushed her fingers over her lips.

  
  


**IV**

They were sitting together, eating lunch on the transport that would take them to Naboo. Padmé wondered if she would be having as hard a time eating if it were Obi-Wan sitting across from her. She stole a glance at Anakin and noticed that he seemed to have as little an appetite today as she did; he was toying with the bread on his plate, his expression unreadable.

He had confided in her that he was nervous – this was his first solo assignment. She wondered what life was like for him now. Everything about it would be a complete change to what he had known as a child. He was a man now, but what sort of man had the Jedi molded him into?

“It must be difficult, having sworn your life to the Jedi,” Padmé began. She noticed that his expression seemed to change to one of dissatisfaction when she mentioned the word “Jedi”. “Not being able to visit the places you like, or do the things you like...”

“Or be with the people I love,” he interjected.

Padmé assumed with some pity that he meant his mother, Shmi. How awful to be parted from your family and never be able to see them again! She couldn’t imagine being without her own family. They were so important to her.

“Are you allowed to love?” she asked. “I thought it was forbidden for a Jedi.”

“ _Attachment_ is forbidden. _Possession_ is forbidden. But _compassion_ – which I would define as ‘unconditional love’ - is central to a Jedi’s life,” he explained. Pausing, he looked at her closely. She felt a blush on her cheeks.

“So you might say that we are _encouraged_ to love,” he concluded.

Padmé regarded him carefully, reflecting on his words. “You’ve changed so much.”

He smiled. “You haven’t changed a bit. You’re exactly the way I remember you in my dreams.”

Padmé bit her lip, bashful at his sudden boldness.

Anakin looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, milady. I overstepped – please forgive me. I’m not always sure what to say around you.”

“It’s alright,” Padmé replied softly.

A tension settled in the air between them. They did not say anything else to each other for a little while, they just continued to pull their bread apart and look awkwardly around the transport shuttle.

R2 rolled over with two bowls of soup. Padmé smiled and thanked him, taking the bowls and placing one in front of Anakin.

Anakin immediately shoved a big spoonful of soup into his mouth before suddenly grimacing. “Ah! Oh Force, that’s hot!”

He threw down his spoon and looked at Padmé with a sheepish grin.

She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle the laugh bubbling within her, but it was no use. She couldn’t help it – he looked so silly, a Jedi defeated by a bowl of hot soup.

His laughter joined hers and the tension between them was erased.  T he pair spent the rest of the journey to Naboo in companionable discussion. 

In fact, Padmé was surprised when the shuttle began its descent, as so many hours had passed so quickly. She  found she had lost all track of time wh ilst talking with Anakin.  They talked about so many different things – her time as queen, his training with Obi-Wan, the threat against her life and the Separatists.  He had so many interesting opinions about things, had seen so much of the  galaxy , so many different  worlds and  cultures. She admired his intelligence and his idealism,  his kindness and his sense of justice . She also enjoyed how quick-witted he was too, as he began to tease her as they grew more comfortable with each other.

“ Alright, I’ve got one for you,”  Anakin began. “What do you think is your greatest flaw?”

Her finger traced the rim of her water glass as she thought. It was such an honest question, but she was finding it easier and easier to open up to him.  And h e’d  already  been vulnerable with her, telling her about the nightmares he’d been plagued with over the past few weeks  and how they left him feeling so awfully hollow . She decided to reward him for that openness with some of her own.

“I’d say my greatest flaw is that I care too much about what I believe in.” He raised an eyebrow at her so she clarified. “I mean, I love my work,  I really do, but sometimes I think I care too much about it at the detriment of my own happiness. Take my being a senator for example – I took the job because the Queen asked me to and I didn’t want to stop fighting for the good of my homeworld, but also part of me wonders if I should have said no instead. It’s a lot of work all of the time, and it’s kept me from doing some of the other things in life that are important to me …  like  starting a family.”

Anakin’s  expression was  tender . “I don’t think that’s a flaw at all. I think  the fact that you care so much makes you  a wonderful person.”

Carefully he reached out, softly brushing his fingers along the top of her hand where it rested on the table between them. His touch felt electric on her skin, and she unconsciously sucked in a little gasp of air through her parted lips.

“Anakin...” she whispered, watching his fingers glide across her  hand . She suddenly longed to turn  it over and clasp her fingers within his. What would that feel like, holding his hand? His hands looked calloused – would they feel rough? All she had to do was cross that line set out by the Jedi Code and she would know...

She pulled her hand back. 

That moment had existed in a bubble of its own, beyond time and space.  Now t hey needed to get back to reality. 

His gaze lingered on her. His lips parted, as if he was on the cusp of saying something and then deci ding against it.

It was her  own  voice, to her irritation quavering a little, that spoke again, totally ending the spell. “Wh-what do you think your g reatest flaw is?”

He continued to look at her, watching her as she shifted a little in her seat. The fingers that had been stroking her skin now rubbed his  own tired eyes, then ran through his short hair. He leaned back in his seat,  his hands behind his head.

“Oh, that’s easy,” he said, grinning at her. “I don’t have one.”

She laughed, the sound a little uneasy at first as she fought to regain the final vestiges of control over herself. 

“ S o you’re perfect, are you?” she teased.

He shrugged,  still smiling . “Well, I  _ am _ the Chosen One, after all.”

They both laughed, their gaze once again fixed on each other. Anakin placed his hands on the table once more and Padmé turned away, thinking only about how much she wanted to feel his touch again.

  
  


**V**

  
  


“He’s not my boyfriend,” Padmé chided her sister Sola.

They were both standing in front of the big kitchen window. Sola was putting away the dishes from the afternoon’s meal and Padmé was supposed to be helping but was instead watching Anakin as he walked in the garden with her father.

Sola snorted at her younger sister. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Padmé . It’s clear that he has feelings for you.”

Padmé frowned, turning to her mother who was over by the dining table, for assistance. J obal simply smiled at her  younger daughter knowingly and turned away.

“He’s just a friend! We’ve known each other for years,” Padmé protested. “And besides, he’s a Jedi.”

“Well, Jedi or not, he’s definitely interested in you, Padmé . And I think you’re interested in him,” Sola replied.

Padmé didn’t respond to her sister’s comment because she was no longer listening. She was looking out the window at Anakin, who was looking up at her from the garden.  She smiled at the awkward little wave he gave her, responding with one of her own. Then he turned away and continued walking with her father, and she turned away and b usied  herself with making a pot of tea, trying to ignore the fluttering in her stomach. 

She didn’t notice Sola and her mother exchange beaming looks behind her.

  
  


**VI**

  
  


“Padmé , darling, it’s getting late. Show Anakin to his room – he’s probably exhausted,” Jobal instructed her daughter.

They had all been sitting in the comfortable lounge room, listening to Anakin tell stories of his adventures across the galaxy. Much like it had done on the transport shuttle, Padmé found that time flew when she was talking to him. She had spent the entire evening both listening intently to everything he said and feeling her body become more and more electrified from the heat of his own as he sat on the sofa next to her. She wondered if he was as conscious of her presence as she was of his.

Everybody rose from their seats to bid each other goodnight.

“Ruwee, Jobal, Sola, thank you for an extremely pleasant evening. I’ve never felt so welcome nor had the pleasure of such delicious cooking,” Anakin said humbly.

“Any friend of Padmé ’s is a friend of ours,” Jobal replied warmly.

“Yes, you and Padmé are great _friends_ ,” Sola grinned provocatively, ignoring Padmé ’s death-glare and burning cheeks.

“Come on, Anakin. The guest room is down the hallway here,” Padmé said quickly, leading Anakin away from her family and any more opportunity for embarrassment.

She stopped halfway down the short stone-tiled hallway, standing in front of a wooden door. “Here’s your room.”

“Thank you,” Anakin replied awkwardly.

“Well, goodnight.”

Padmé started to back away to leave, but suddenly Sola, carrying a pile of linen, bumped into her. The force of it sent Padmé stumbling forward a few steps, knocking straight into Anakin. They both paused, their bodies flush against each other. Padmé could feel the hard muscle of his chest and her own heart pounding in hers. She looked up at him and he looked down at her, and for a moment it was just like it had been on the transport shuttle when his fingers were brushing so deliciously against her skin and she suddenly just wanted to be even closer to him, to wrap her arms around him, to have him hold her close and not let go.

And then the spell was broken by Sola’s flustered apology. “Sorry! It’s impossible to see past all of these towels!”

Padmé quickly took a step back. Anakin watched her with unreadable eyes.

“I-it’s alright, Sola. Just an accident,” she muttered.

Sola continued down the hallway and Padmé turned to Anakin once more. He seemed to be breathing quicker than usual. “Goodnight, Ani,” she said softly, using that old affectionate nickname from so long ago.

“ Goodnight, Padmé ,” he replied, but she h ad walked  a way so fast she was already gone.

  
  


**VII**

  
  


Varykino was as beautiful as she remembered. The lake was a crystal dream, the colour of the sky reflected in its shimmering waves.

Padmé felt free, and she felt happy. It had been so long since she had felt anything other than stress or exhaustion that she almost didn’t know how to register these blissful feelings. She watched Anakin admire the lake as they arrived at the little dock. He jumped easily out of the boat and her skin tingled as he took her hand to help her out of it.

She smiled up at him and then they walked side-by-side up to the balcony of the beautiful villa. Padmé noticed with delight that the stone vases on the balcony were filled with roses, the same as they had been when she had last come here so long ago.

They paused to take in the view. The lake, the gardens, the meadow – all of it seemed too wonderful to be real.

Padmé looked at Anakin. “What do you think of Varykino?”

He met her gaze with a smile. “Beautiful.”

“I used to come here all the time as a child, on school retreats. We used to swim to that island – I love the water. We used to lie out on the sand and let the sun dry us, and try to guess the names of the birds singing,” Padmé reminisced.

Anakin shook his head. “I don’t like sand. It’s course and rough and irritating, and it gets _everywhere_.”

Padmé nodded. “I suppose I would feel the same way if I’d grown up on a desert planet, too.”

“Naboo is so much nicer,” he began. They had been standing very near each other but now he closed the space between them completely.

H er heart started to beat faster. 

“Here everything is soft,” he  continued . She watched his gaze travel from her face to her hands as they rested on the carved stone  railing of the  balcony. “Here everything is smooth.”

As they had done on the transport shuttle, his fingers brushed against the back of her hand. The effect was instantaneous – she felt the electricity buzzing in her veins. 

A nd so because of  the warm caress of his fingers she took her chance, she crossed that line. Reaching out, she took his free hand in hers, twining her fingers together with his. There were callouses on his hand but it did not feel rough. It felt warm and strong. These were powerful hands. 

Their eyes met and she knew that he understood what she wanted, what she craved from him.

He ran his fingers up her arm, f ire following in their wake. “Everything here is so beautiful, but nothing is as beautiful as you,” he murmured. He was even closer now – their faces were not even an inch apart. 

“Ani...” she whispered,  but then his lips were on hers. Her whole body  erupted into flames and it was all that she could do not to wrap her arms around his neck and draw his body closer to hers. This was not the first time she had been kissed but somehow it made every other kiss  she’d had seem so wholly inconsequential that she may as well have been kissing someone for the first time. No other kiss had mattered until this one.

Their lips met again and again. She breathed the scent of him, masculine, intoxicating. She could stay here forever, kiss him forever, she never wanted this to stop, she needed this to go on and on and on…

But  i t couldn’t. It had to stop. He was a Jedi. She was a senator. He would be thrown out of the Order. There was a line and they had crossed it.  They had a duty to a purpose bigger than themselves.

She broke away from him and stood back, catching her breath. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“ I-I’m sorry, milady,” he stammered, and there was such a sad look in his eyes at the thought of her regretting the kiss that it almost  broke her heart.  It  made her want to kiss him again to get rid of it,  to assure him that she had wanted, needed, that kiss as much as he had . 

“ Let’s go inside,” she said breathlessly, turning on her heel and quickly walking away.

“As you wish, milady,” he replied dismally, following her through the beautifully carved wooden doors. 

  
  


**VIII**

  
  


Breakfast the next day was a relatively sombre affair, the atmosphere a continuation from that of the previous night. Anakin and Padmé had talked little to each other, and Padmé had absolutely no idea what to do to salvage the situation.

She stole glances at him as she drank her coffee. He was silent, and ate very little, as he had done at dinner. She herself only picked at the berries on her plate. Those she did eat she did not taste.

She wanted to ask if he was alright but she knew what the answer would be. He was offended because she had broken off their kiss so hastily and with a tone of regret. He was uncomfortable because he did not know how to act around her. But what in Force’s name could she possibly do about any of that? She had no experience with anything like this at all!

“How did you sleep?” she asked. Her voice felt strangely formal. “Was your room to your liking?”

Anakin responded with one quick, curt nod.

Padmé looked down at her food again, pushing the berries around the plate with her fork. She waited a few moments and then tried again.

“Is there anything you’d like to do today? Maybe go for a swim? Or a picnic?”

“Whichever you desire, milady,” Anakin replied brusquely.

Padmé sighed. “How about we go for a picnic then?”

“As you wish.”

  
  


**IV**

  
  


T he meadow was a sea of green and gold .  Even though Padmé was dismayed at how things were turning out with Anakin, she could not help but feel such a sense of joy at being h ere again, the soft grass beneath her feet, warm sunshine kissing her skin.

A nakin had been relatively silent for most of the walk there. She had  tried to pli e him with a few questions about things she knew he was interested in, like what he thought the best type of fighter was, but had had little success. His mood was so sour that she was almost beginning to regret coming out  to the meadow.

T he meal was accompanied with more awkward silence, and yet again they both ate very little. Eventually Padmé got so fed up with trying to make conversation that she just began packing up the food and the utensils.

“What are you doing?” Anakin asked.

“What does it look like? I’m packing up so we can leave, since it’s very obvious you don’t actually want to be out here,” Padmé snapped.

She continued to pack things away in the basket they had brought everything in. Anakin watched her for a little while before he cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. He was fiddling with a long stem of grass and looking genuinely remorseful.

Padmé softened a little.  She halted her packing.

“ I don’t really know what to do,” Anakin began. “I feel so...”

“I know. I do too,” she said gently. She moved to sit beside him again. “I’ve never really experienced anything like this before.”

He looked at her shyly. “So you’ve never… you never had…”

“What? Never had a what?”

“A boyfriend.” The words spilled from his mouth in a rush.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “No. No boyfriend.”

She glanced at Anakin, who was trying to hide a smile. “So you’ve never… on the balcony was your...”

Padmé shook her head. “Anakin, I don’t want to burst your bubble but… you weren’t my first kiss.”

Anakin pulled on the piece of grass he was playing with so hard it broke in two. “Oh.”  He looked at Padmé with a sidelong glance. “Who was he?”

Padmé laughed. “He wasn’t my _boyfriend_ , or anything like that. He was just a boy that I was interested in. His name was Paolo, he had dark curly hair, dreamy eyes...”

“Alright, alright. I think I get the picture.”

She laughed again. “You’re jealous.”

He snorted. “No I’m not.”

“Yes you are!”

“I swear, I’m not!”

“Oh, you most definitely are,” Padmé teased, sudden boldness overtaking her. She swatted his chest with her hand.

She squealed when he suddenly leaned forward and grabbed her. They rolled over and over in the meadow, laughing loudly, his arms around her and pressing her to his hard chest. They came to a stop and she came to rest on top of him. And then it all happened so fast. Teasing turned into desperate desire. She longed to kiss him. She needed to kiss him.

So she pulled back, rolled off of him, stood up. He quickly, awkwardly did the same.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I’m afraid,” was all she whispered. She was so close to him that she could feel his breath against her lips.

“What are you afraid of?” he murmured. He brushed a loose curl from her face gently. “I told you before that I’d never let anything harm you.”

Padmé took a deep, steadying breath before answering. “I’m afraid that if I kiss you again I won’t be able to stop. I… I’m afraid of how much I long for you, when I know I shouldn’t.”

Anakin sighed and closed his eyes. “I feel the same way. Being in your presence is… is overwhelming, Padmé . I know it’s not the Jedi way but… I don’t care.”

“What are we going to do? You’re a Jedi, I’m a senator...”

“But I love you!” Anakin cried. “Padmé , I am so _incredibly_ in _love_ with you! That kiss on the balcony… I’m in agony at the thought of never kissing you again!”

Padmé wanted to tell him the same, that she was falling more and more in love with him every day, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. 

He was a Jedi. She was a senator. It was all happening so fast.

She turned away from him. 

“Padmé ,” he said beseechingly. “I thought you felt the same.”

“We can’t.” She stepped back, trying to slow her rapid breathing. “We can’t, no matter how much we want to.”

Anakin turned away, running a hand through his short hair. “But you do want to?”

Padmé looked down, then nodded. “Of course I do.”

“So what do we do?” Anakin sighed.

Padmé thought for a moment. Her answer was an unpleasant one. “I think we should try to stay away from each other as much as possible.”

“But I’m assigned to protect you! How am I supposed to do that if I’m not with you?” Anakin snapped.

“You wouldn’t need to be in the exact room with me to protect me. Besides, there’s plenty of staff at Varykino to help keep a look-out.”

Anakin’s face was stony. “I think it’s a terrible idea.”

Padmé didn’t respond. She simply began packing the final picnic things into the basket.

The journey back to the villa was a silent one, and they didn’t speak to each other for the rest of the evening. 

  
  


  
  


**V**

  
  


Several days had passed.  They  had  spent  them in solitude, joining only for silent meals. Every time they met Padmé wished for nothing more than for him to talk to her, for them to have the conversations they had had on the shuttle or at her parent’s house, but he only ever said enough as to be polite, and nothing more.

During the days he meditated, or trained, or wandered through the gardens. Sometimes she would watch him from the balcony, wondering if her knew she was there. He never looked up at her.

Now it was  yet  another night  and  s he couldn’t sleep. He was on the other side of this wall where she lay her head and she couldn’t sleep. He was there in his bed alone and she was here in hers and she couldn’t sleep.

How had things changed so fast? How had she fallen so quickly for a man she had only been reunited with a few days ago?

There was just something about him, some irresistible thing that drew her to him, even though she knew they couldn’t be together.  S he was finding herself falling more and more in love with this new, interesting man that she was getting to know. It was not just a physical attraction,  s he was falling in love with his passion for what was right, she was falling in love with his ambition to be the best that he could be. She was falling in love with his gentleness and the way he cared so much for her safety. She was falling in love with the way he was already so in love with  _ her _ , how he looked at her as if he had never seen anything more beautiful, the way he smiled at her as if he would change the galaxy for her  as soon as she said the word . She was falling in love with him, every part of him, and she knew it was quick, and she knew it was forbidden, but it was hard to care, hard to heed any sort of caution when this love felt  _ this good _ , and he was there right in front of her feeling the same way.

So she spent all night tossing and turning, never sleeping. She thought only of him, and how he was right there, just on the other side of the wall, and all she wanted to do was to reach out and touch him and claim him for her own forever, consequences be damned.

  
  


**VI**

  
  


She rose with the sun. Throwing a robe over her shoulders she stepped out on the balcony to search for peace in the still morning air.

Padmé was surprised to see him up so early, but then remembered their conversation on the shuttle about how he had trouble sleeping. She wondered if he’d been having a nightmare or if he’d been troubled by something else.

Anakin seemed deep in thought, so she turned around to leave, not wanting to disturb him.

However his voice, husky with lack of sleep, stopped her. “Don’t go. Your presence is soothing.”

Padmé stayed where she was, watching him meditate. He wore nothing more than sleep pants and his loose undershirt. His body was all hard muscle, and h eat rose within her at the thought of it.

“You had trouble sleeping.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of fact.

He nodded. “So did you.”

She gasped despite herself, taking a step towards him as he turned to face her. “How did you know?”

“I could sense it. You were distressed.”

She was silent. She had been distressed for days. She did not want to feel this way any more.

“Are you feeling better now?”

She crossed the distance between them, standing before him. Behind him the sun was rising properly and its brilliant golden rays illuminated the couple as they embraced.

“I am now,” she murmured, her head against his chest as he held her close. “I feel much better now.”

He brushed her loose curls back from her face. “Do you know how beautiful you are?”

She smiled up at him. “You’re doing a good job of making me aware of it.”

He laughed. “You _should_ always be aware of it. There’s nobody else in the galaxy more beautiful than you.”

“You only think that because you’re in love with me,” she replied softly.

He brushed the back of his fingers gently, almost reverently, down her cheek. “I _am_ in love with you, but it doesn’t make what I said any less true.”

Boldly, she stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck so she could pull him closer to her, their foreheads touching. She murmured against his lips, “I have something I have to tell you.”

His breath was warm against her face. Desire rose within her. “What is it?”

“I have to tell you that I love you too,” she whispered. She leaned back so she could see his expression. His eyes were shining fiercely blue and he had never looked more desirable.. “I love you so much it overwhelms me. And I’m not afraid anymore.” 

H e smiled. “I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear you say that.  My love. My Angel. ”

“ Always,” she declared softly. 

They  leaned towards each other at the same time, their lips meeting in a deep, deep kiss. This time her hands did wrap around his neck, pulling him closer to her.  His hands roamed her back and then one of them tangled in her hair, pulling her face closer, the kiss intensifying. 

The taste of him melted her; she had never needed anything more in her entire life. Her lips crushed against his time and time again, both of them so greedy for each other. It was so good she was almost in pain. They kissed  again and again , the kiss they had been waiting so long for. It was better than the first,  this one  entwining their souls as one. 

Whatever happened to them now they would at least have this moment forever, this blissful moment of light, the wonderful discovery of their love. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I’ll defend "Attack of the Clones" and the Naboo balcony scene til the day I die, but it was a lot of fun expanding upon Anakin and Padmé ’s romance in this story and using some of the deleted scenes as inspiration too! Also Anakin’s inability to eat soup properly comes from one of the film’s blooper reels, which I really recommend looking up on YouTube if you haven’t already seen them (it’s like 90% Hayden Christensen falling down/breaking things and it’s really cute). 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought in a review – I really appreciate getting feedback to improve my writing, plus it would really cheer me up right now!


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